The present invention is directed to integrated circuits and their processing for the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention provides a method and device for preparing a sample for imaging using a scanning electron microscope for analysis in the manufacture of integrated circuit devices, but it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
Integrated circuits have evolved from a handful of interconnected devices fabricated on a single chip of silicon to millions of devices. Conventional integrated circuits provide performance and complexity far beyond what was originally imagined. In order to achieve improvements in complexity and circuit density (i.e., the number of devices capable of being packed onto a given chip area), the size of the smallest device feature, also known as the device “geometry”, has become smaller with each generation of integrated circuits.
Increasing circuit density has not only improved the complexity and performance of integrated circuits but has also provided lower cost parts to the consumer. An integrated circuit or chip fabrication facility can cost hundreds of millions, or even billions, of U.S. dollars. Each fabrication facility will have a certain throughput of wafers, and each wafer will have a certain number of integrated circuits on it. Therefore, by making the individual devices of an integrated circuit smaller, more devices may be fabricated on each wafer, thus increasing the output of the fabrication facility. Making devices smaller is very challenging, as each process used in integrated fabrication has a limit. That is to say, a given process typically only works down to a certain feature size, and then either the process or the device layout needs to be changed. Additionally, as devices require faster and faster designs, process limitations exist with certain conventional processes and materials. Furthermore, testing techniques for failure analysis and other purposes are also limited with smaller and smaller design rules.
An example of a process that has limitations based upon a given feature size is a calibration process commonly used with scanning electron microscopes, commonly called SEMs. The conventional calibration process often relies upon calibration standards, which are provided by vendors of these scanning electron microscopes. Unfortunately, these standards have limitations. That is, such standards often have errors that range in size to about 6 nanometers or more, depending upon the technique used to manufacture the standards. These and other limitations of the conventional calibration standards can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for processing semiconductor devices is desired.